Fuel delivery systems are used in vehicles to provide fuel to cylinders in the engine. Some fuel delivery systems may include multiple fuel pumps, such as a high pressure fuel pump and a low pressure fuel pump, to providing high pressure fuel to the cylinders. Increasing the pressure of the fuel delivery system may enable combustion efficiency to be increased, thereby reducing fuel consumption and/or increasing power output. However, fuel delivery systems may experience pressure pulsations in a variety of locations in the system. For instance, pressure pulses may be experienced between the fuel pumps and between the fuel rail and the high pressure fuel pump. As a result, the longevity of the pumps, fuel rail, etc., may be decreased due to the degradation of components caused by the pressure pulsations in the system. These pressure pulsations may also negatively affect the metering of the fuel provided to the combustion chamber, thereby reducing combustion efficiency. Moreover, the noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) caused by the pulsations also decreases customer satisfaction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,664 discloses a check valve in a fuel delivery system between a pump and a fuel tank. The check valve is designed to reduce ticking noise generated during valve operation. It will be appreciated that the check valve disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,664 is configured to connect to an upstream and downstream fuel conduit. Furthermore, the check valve disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,664 is a standalone component in the fuel delivery system. As a result, the bulkiness of the fuel delivery system is increased. Moreover, the valve disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,664 is L-shaped. This type of shape increases losses in the fuel delivery system.
The inventors herein have recognized the above issues and developed a fuel delivery system. The fuel delivery system includes an elastic fuel line positioned between a first fuel pump and a second fuel pump and a check valve positioned in the elastic fuel line, the check valve including an external housing having a peripheral surface with a greater diameter than an unstretched inner diameter of the elastic fuel line. Sizing of the check valve and corresponding fuel line in this way enables the check valve to be securely fitted into the fuel line. Specifically, the stretched fuel line exerts a radial force on the check valve to secure the valve in a desired location in the fuel line. In this way, the check valve may be easily integrated into existing fuel lines without introducing a standalone check valve unit, if desired. As a result, the compactness of the fuel delivery system can be increased. Moreover, the check valve attenuates pressure pulsations in the fuel line, thereby reducing NVH in the fuel delivery system. Thus, the technical results achieved via the aforementioned engine system include increasing the system's compactness and decreasing pulsations in the fuel delivery system, thereby increasing the system's longevity and decreasing NVH in the system.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure. Additionally, the above issues have been recognized by the inventors herein, and are not admitted to be known.